How to Legally Register Guests in Chicago
Whether you manage properties, like a rural house, campsite or tourist home advertised on an OTA (platform such as Airbnb, HomeAway and Booking), the state of California requires you to register and maintain records of your guests. However, the exact details and duration of this requirement varies depending on the city.
These tourist registration requirements can be challenging to keep up with, especially for hosts who are renting homes in more than one municipality.
Here, we tell you what your responsibility is as a home sharing host in Chicago.
As ordained by the City Council of Chicago in section 4-207-080/ 4-207-110:
“The licensee shall maintain current guest registration records which contain the following information about each guest: the guest’s name, address, signature, and dates of accommodation. The registration records shall be kept on file for three years and made available for inspection by city officials during regular business hours or in the case of an emergency… Violators of this law are subject to a fine up to $1,000.00.”
Currently, HomeAway, Airbnb and other home sharing services do not have the capability to maintain guest information. Attempting to store this information on your own is cumbersome, and you can put your guests’ information at risk of being compromised if not stored properly.
Is there an application that completes the guest registration process and maintains these records?
CheKin takes care of your legal obligations surrounding guest registration and record keeping.
CheKin securely stores all your guests’ data and makes it readily available in the case of an inspection or an emergency.
This platform is especially useful for renters of multiple properties because maintaining all this information can become complicated, and CheKin has the capability to display guest information based on which property they rented.
With CheKin, you can scan your guests ID/ passport to automatically store the information, or you can manually input the guest data into the application. Afterwards, simply ask your guest to virtually sign.
Don’t forget to add the process of guest registration to your checklist as an Airbnb host!
